In 2010, over 60% of my trades were in the tennis markets. The percentage would have probably been higher if if wasn’t for the world cup which reignited my interest in the football markets. Although the new tennis season will not officially start until next year with the Brisbane, Doha and Chennai tournaments, we do have some early matches starting as of tomorrow. The Mubadala World Tennis Exhibition Event basically is the start of the new tennis trading season for me. Baghdatis will play Berdych followed Soderling against Tsonga.
What I like about this exhibition tournament is that it gives me the opportunity to get a feel for tennis trading again. Extended periods of time without trading your favorite sport followed by an almost instant immersion into the markets can produce some unwanted results. Exhibition tournaments or matches which are listed on the betting exchanges always tend to bring decent trading opportunities with a recent example being the two matches played by Federer and Nadal in Zurich and Madrid.
Looking at the two matches played tomorrow I’m really interested to see how all players stand. Baghdatis will certainly be a player to watch for at the Australian Open, as always. He gets plenty of support there, and I remember last year he had a great run down under, winning in Sydney, and showing great tennis in the AO being two sets to love down to Ferrer and making an incredible comeback. In the next match however, he had to retire against Hewitt. He wasn’t fully fit last year and that played a part, but this season it’s interesting to see how fit he is and at what level his tennis stands.
Berdych is another interesting player. I have to say he is one of the most talented players on the tour but his mental strength just isn’t at the same level with his talent. Last year he switched coaches, and that played a part in his results, reaching the French Open semi final and the Wimbledon final. After the US Open his results seemed to go in the wrong direction, but he did manage to show better tennis during the ATP World Tour Finals. This season, if he continues with the improvements his coach laid out for him last season we should see even better results from him his season.
In the other match I don’t see what major changes Soderling can bring to the his game. He is very much a Plan A type of player with no Plan B most of the times. On the other hand it will be interesting to see Tsonga back in action.
Looking forward to a long and profitable tennis trading season.
Image Credit: Baghdatis
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